


Camelot Days

by Argyll137xz



Category: Hellequin Chronicles - Steve McHugh
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 02:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10323884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argyll137xz/pseuds/Argyll137xz





	

Camelot Days

My first morning in Camelot was just a little damp, after a fall of rain overnight, but it made it smell wonderfully fresh, with some unusually scents. I’d breakfasted early, some food I’d bought the previous evening during a brief stroll I took to get my bearings, and now waited impatiently for my guide to arrive. I wanted to be on with things!  
My escort, a middle-aged man, turned up a few minutes later, and after introductions, took me, via the underground system, to the building where my training was to take place. On the way there he explained how I could get around the city without it being too tiring for me, information I was thankful for. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was, although I didn’t ask him. Human maybe? He left me in the foyer of a modernistic looking building after explaining to the receptionist who I was and why I was there.  
A few moments later an elevator door I hadn’t noticed opened and Craig himself came out to meet me. After a few words he led me to a small office, where an attractive redhaired woman was working at a computer terminal. He introduced her as Mhairi then he opened another door and ushered me into a very large, and open, office.  
“Welcome to my domain!” he said as he ushered me in.  
I looked around it. It was sparsely furnished with a rather ornate wooden table and several comfortable chairs at one end, opposite what I took to be large picture windows but which were hidden by thick-looking curtains, lighting being provided by glowing panels in the ceiling. The positioning of the furniture left a lot of the floor free from obstructions. I noticed that part of the floor was covered with several large padded gym mats. He sat at one side of the table, inviting me to take a seat opposite, which I did.  
“How are you settling in?” he asked.  
“All right.” I replied. “The room’s comfortable, more than I expected, but I haven’t had chance to have a look around yet.”  
“You’ll have plenty of time, but I think you’ll find that once you get over the shock of this being Camelot it’s much like any other city you’ll have visited!”  
I laughed. “You’re probably right! I’m more of a small town boy myself!”  
“Just so! Right, let’s get down to business. You know why you’re here.”  
I nodded. “To learn to take care of myself, without having to rely on the runes, and to try and find out just what I can do with them.”  
“Close enough.” he said. “I’ll teach you some combat techniques designed to help you, but, and if anything, this is more important, we need to know exactly what you can and cannot do as an enchanter.”  
“You mean to find my limitations.”  
He looked serious for a moment. “It’s best that you find out here than in a situation that could get you killed if you get it wrong. Or worse!”  
Worse than getting killed! What could be worse? I was beginning to face the reality of a world that, until a week ago, I didn’t know existed but I was now a part of, a world that could kill me in many different ways and none of my friends would be any the wiser. It’s a very sobering thought. I still didn’t want to know what could be worse than death, though.  
Craig must have known what I was thinking. “Still want to go ahead with this?”  
I nodded. “Let’s get started!”  
“Okay. I think the first thing is that you tell me how you started with the runes, how you use them, everything. I know what Nate told Lucie about you but I’d like to hear it for myself, not second hand, then I can plan a course of action. Fair enough?”  
“Fair enough.” I agreed. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and I began.  
My story didn’t take long, and he didn’t interrupt, though he did raise his eyebrows when I spoke of being entirely self-taught. When I’d finished he remained motionless for a few moments before opening his eyes and sitting forwards again. “Well, that explains a couple of things.” he said.  
“Which are?” I enquired.  
“How you remained off Avalon’s radar and how you can use colour. You didn’t know any better.”  
“How do you mean?”  
“Well, for centuries anyone showing an aptitude for rune work has been spotted fairly early on and they are then taught by a fellow enchanter. They learn about runes and bind runes, how to scribe or etch them into objects, even tattoo them, such as the ones Lucie has, and how to activate them, but I know of no record of any enchanter using a specific colour, or combination of colours, on the runes to help them perform a specific task. I’d go so far as to say only the dwarves would be able to help you there, and they didn’t leave any records behind when they left, and that’s even assuming they ever wrote anything down in the first place, which everyone doubts. As you are self-taught it was natural that you would use colour, after all, you wouldn’t know any reason not too would you? If that is the case there’s a chance that other enchanters can be taught colour usage too. But as for how you create the runes… I think that is something that’s unique to you.”  
I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by this. For a start, I though all enchanters used colour. “I can’t be the only one! Surely there must have been others through the centuries who used colour for the runes?”  
He gave a wry grin. “If there was, they didn’t leave any record. It’s quite possible that enchanters, being human, and you know they can be like, when they wrote the books on rune lore they’d keep the best parts secret to themselves and leave it out, so when they died that knowledge died with them.” He sighed. “Whatever the reason, I know there are no enchanters using colour today.”  
“And the other?”  
That wry grin again. “I don’t know any enchanter who hasn’t tried to do it, or something similar, and all have failed miserably.”  
A realisation came to me. “You’ve tried, haven’t you? You’re an enchanter!”  
He grinned. “Guilty as charged! Yes, I’ve tried, and so did Lucie, when she was learning. Only you can create and use them the way that you do!”  
“I thought anyone who could use runes did it that way.” I admitted, “Besides drawing them, I mean. Hell, I didn’t even know I was doing it until Nate pointed it out to me.”  
“Then I’m hoping we have a lot to thank him for! But first things first, we’ll start with some unarmed combat. It give you a chance of surviving without relying on the runes.”  
“I guessed that’s what the mats were for!” I said.  
“I don’t want to break any of your bones!” he said, and I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not. “You can leave your stick on the back of your chair.”  
Half An hour later I realised he was serious, my aching body told me so. “That’ll do for today.” he said. “We’ll continue tomorrow, but for now I suggest you go and get some rest, this really takes it out of you.”  
He helped me back to my seat, opened a compartment in the table and handed me a chilled bottle of water. I drank it down thirstily, and immediately felt better, though not a full 100%. We chatted for a few minutes then I left, retracing the route back to my digs. It took a lot longer than it had earlier that morning!  
During the following days the training was hard but I found myself enjoying it and the aches grew less. Although not as fast, or agile, as most people I’d soon learned enough to be able to take care of myself without relying on the runes to help. As Craig was fond of repeating: ‘”Don’t give your opponent a chance! Hit first and fight dirty if you have to.”’ In my case that was a given if I wanted to survive, let alone win, any encounter. By the end of the first week I could kill a person quite easily, with, or without, my stick in hand! I hoped I would never be in the position where I had to do it, but at least I was prepared if I had.  
The rune training was something else again. Even normal runes were capable of doing so much more than I ever imagined. Want to paralyse some-one? Use a rune. Booby-trap a building to exploded? There’s a bind rune for that! I learned that some powerful enchanters, such as Lucie, could alter runes created by some-one else, but if they got it wrong the consequences could be devastating. I would never have guessed that a bind rune would be set to explode if tampered with. I had a lot to learn. That part of the training I found easy, though. I didn’t have to know which rune, or bind rune, was needed to get a specific effect, I just thought of what I wanted them to do and there they were! And always in a colour, or combination of colours depending on how long, and how powerful, they needed to be to get the job done. Craig was fascinated by this, and made copious notes describing how each colour affected a particular rune, especially when I drew the rune onto paper. After doing this the I watched him destroy the drawing. He didn’t want them falling into the wrong hands, as it were, although that seemed unlikely in his office, but better safe than sorry.  
I also learned that an enchanters’ use of the runes could be negated if the person was wearing a sorcerer’s band, an innocuous-looking silver bracelet with runes etched into it. Craig described what they were used for, then slipped one over my wrist, with a very strong warning not to even think about using a rune, not even a dwarven one, whilst it was on. Neither of us had any idea if it would effect a dwarf rune and the words ‘magical napalm’ put paid to any ideas I had in that direction anyway! It felt a little weird wearing it, and when he unlocked it and took it off I felt an overwhelming surge of relief.  
Whilst powerful runes, even with the addition of colour, have their limits. For example, some security systems, especially the high-end ones used by some of the higher members of Avalon, are designed to negate an intruders’ powers, be they sorcerer, enchanter or one of some of the other species, one of the reasons I was receiving combat training. Well, you never know! The dwarven runes, however, were a different kettle of fish altogether. Craig, nor anyone else, knew anything about them so just what they were capable of was anyone’s guess.  
I’d been in Camelot almost three weeks when a couple of things happened in quick succession. The training was going well, although I was starting to get itchy feet and looking forwards to going home, and, despite what others had said, Craig was right; to some-one like me Camelot was just another city despite the fine architecture. To help pass my spare time I borrowed some books and set about learning about some of the other species I may eventually encounter. Not just vampires and weres but syphons, fae, gargoyles and a whole host of others, and it was virtually impossible to tell what species a human belonged to unless you knew exactly what to look for or they used their ability, by which time it could be too late! They each had their particular strengths and weaknesses, and a silver blade or bullet could make them think twice if it got them in the wrong place, and kill them in the right! Forewarned is forearmed, or so it is said, but I sincerely hoped I would never meet some of them. I doubted I would in Oban.  
One day Craig brought in an ornate silver box, inscribed with runes, and placed on the table between us. “What’s that?” I enquired curiously.  
“It’s a test box.” he said seriously.  
“And what does it test?”  
“You!” he announced, then went on to tell me how, roughly five hundred years earlier Merlin, and one or two others had decided that some sorcerers, enchanters and others were getting too arrogant and needed teaching some humility. The box was the result. It was protected by runes and magic that prevented it being opened by runes, magical or physical means, the runes ensuring the person doing the test would get a very painful reminder of their failure. After hearing that I was really inclined to give it a miss, but, as has been mentioned before, I really needed to know, so…  
“What do I have to do, Craig?”  
He had a wolfish look in his eyes. I guess he was going to enjoy my failure. “Just use your runes to open the box.” He said that with far too much relish for my liking!  
“Okay.” I said, leaning back in my chair, closing my eyes and tensing myself for the expected pain. Which didn’t come!  
“Fucking Hell! What did you do?” he almost shouted, his voice full of shock.  
I opened my eyes to look at the box as a concerned Mhairi rushed in. “Everything okay?” she demanded. “What’s happened?”  
“I’m not sure!” Craig managed to say. “We’re fine, but the box isn’t. Here, have a look.”  
We both did. To say that Mhairi was stunned by what she saw would be an understatement! The area where the lock had been was now a gaping hole above a blob of melted metal and the lid, now obviously open, was just twisted metal.  
Mhairi stared at the box. “Just how the fuck did you do that?” she asked in shock.  
I was about to say I didn’t know when Craig gingerly removed the lid, glanced inside then reached in and took a gold bar out of it. Grinning broadly he read the inscription on it then passed it to me. I took it in my hand, hefting its weight and feeling somewhat confused. “I don’t understand, what’s this for?” I asked.  
Craig and Mhairi glanced at each other. “You tell him.” Craig said as he picked up the box to examine it.  
She was smiling at me. “It’s the prize for doing the impossible.” she said.  
I was still none the wiser. “You’ll have to explain a little bit more than that!”  
“I think Craig told you that the reason behind this box was to teach arrogant sorcerers, enchanters and such like a bit of humility so they would think twice about dashing into a situation that could get them killed, or worse.” Damn it, there it was again! I still didn’t want to know so just nodded. “Anyway,” she continued, “Merlin and some others created this box as a test to show that power and magic were not always the answer. The gold bar was placed inside as an incentive, not that many needed it, the challenge of the unopenable box being enough for most of them. Every sorcerer, enchanter, alchemist, and some others too, who have been trained here, or even visited, has tried to open the box and failed.”  
This was starting to be a lot to take in. “And nobody, in 500 years, has managed it?” I found that particularly hard to believe.  
“No-one has even come close, not even Hellequin.” I thought I caught just a hint of awe in her voice as she mentioned the name.  
“Who’s Hellequin?” I asked. “I’ve never heard the name.”  
Mhairi looked shocked. “It’s all right, Mhairi! Until a month ago Jason didn’t know Avalon existed!” Craig remarked, placing the box back on the table and settling back in his chair.  
She took a deep breath. “Hellequin is from before our time. He was known as Merlin’s Assassin, the man the monsters feared.”  
I found myself getting interested. “You’re talking in the past tense. What happened to him?”  
She shrugged her shoulders. “About 200 years ago or so he vanished. Nobody knows how or why, but there are always rumours and stories. Some think he was killed and Merlin hushed it up, others think he’s trapped in some other realm, or he just went somewhere else for his own reasons. Now his name lives on in stories, and occasionally some-one claims to have found him but they are always found to be false.”  
“What do you think?”  
“Me? I’d like to think he was still alive, somewhere, doing good things to help the world...” Her voice trailed off.  
Something was pricking the back of my mind, but I couldn’t bring it into focus. Maybe later. I decided to change the subject. “What’s going to happen to the box? “  
Craig shrugged his shoulders. “To be honest, I don’t really know. Nobody ever believed it would ever be opened, so nothing was ever put in place should it happen. Lucie will have to see it, then some-one will have the unenviable task of telling Merlin, then some other test will have to be devised.” He looked me square in the eyes. “Just what did you do?”  
The gold bar was getting very heavy in my hand so I placed it on the table, with no little relief. “I don’t know. I closed my eyes, and knowing the normal runes wouldn’t work I just thought ‘a rune to open the box’, and that’s what happened. If you asked me to describe, or draw the rune then you’re out of luck as it only flashed into my mind and I wasn’t concentrating on it.” I had a thought. “Did you see it by any chance?”  
He gave a rueful grin. “I caught a glimpse of something bright blue but it vanished before I could make out any details.” He handed the box to Mhairi. “Here, you’d better make sure that this gets to Lucie. I’d suggest you take it yourself.”  
She turned to me. “If I hadn’t seen it for myself I wouldn’t have believed it had happened, even if it was Craig who told me!” She paused for a moment. “Jason, I want you to promise me something.”  
I had an idea what she was going to say. “What is it?”  
“For what ever reason you’ve been given a powerful gift and many will want to use it. I want you to promise me that you’ll only use it for good.”  
I thought back to my meeting with Nate and his words before leaving the Oban Inn. Mhairi noticed me smiling. “What is it?” she asked  
“Oh, I was just remembering something similar that Nate said when we met. I promise, Mhairi, I will only use these runes for good.”  
“Then I’m in good company, then!” She flashed me a smile then left the room.  
Craig waited until the door had closed behind her. “She’s right.” he said. “Once this gets out, and there’s no chance of keeping this secret, questions will be asked, and there’ll be a lot of people wanting more than a piece of you. Be very careful, Jason, in what you do and in whom you trust, especially the latter. Avalon is not above putting pressure on people to do their bidding, no matter how unsavoury you may find it, and there are others who make Avalon seem like a Puritan’s picnic! Watch your back!  
“I’ll be careful.” I replied thoughtfully. “I’m only just realising what I’ve really gotten myself into. If I hadn’t decided to go for that drink..!”  
“Before either of us could say anything else a young man entered the room carrying a tray with the accoutrements for tea. He placed the tray on the table and poured two cups of tea. I smiled as he handed one to me and I caught the scent of Russian Caravan tea. I smiled as I helped myself to one of the biscuits that I’d grown to like. The man noticed, nodded, then left the room. Craig sipped his tea then gave a contented sigh. “This is your fault!” he said.  
“What is?”  
“This tea. You have expensive tastes, Jason!”  
I chuckled. “Only for tea and malt whisky, I’m as partial to a bag of chips as the next man!”  
“That’ll do for me!” he said. “What are you going to do with the gold?”  
Until then I hadn’t thought about it. “I’m not sure. I’ll admit it’ll be really useful, although I don’t really need it. I’ll probably deposit it in my bank and decide what to do with it later.”  
Craig nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”  
We chatted for a few more minutes on general things as we drank our tea. “I thinks that’s more than enough for today, don’t you?” Craig said as he placed his placed his empty cup back on it’s saucer.  
“It’s certainly been surprising!”  
“You can say that again!” he agreed.  
I started to gather my things together, carefully stowing the gold bar in my rucksack. Craig watched me for a moment. “Remember what I said, Jason, watch your back. I’m not saying anything will happen to you here in Camelot, but you can never be too safe, and especially when you get back home.”  
I hefted the rucksack over my shoulders then picked up my stick. “I’ll be careful, I promise. Same time tomorrow?”  
He grinned. “Of course! Now go and enjoy the rest of the day.”  
It was a very thoughtful journey back to my accommodation that day. Once in I sat down and pondered. If I’d known before any of this had happened what I knew now would I still have gone through with it? I couldn’t honestly answer that. In the end I gave up thinking about it and headed for a nearby cafe. I figured a good lasagne was what I really needed!  
It was a couple of days later I had my second surprise. Craig and I were chatting over refreshment after a physical training session when Mhairi came in with a silk-wrapped bundle which she placed on the table. Craig thanked her then she gave me a smile and left.  
“This is for you.” he said. A gift from Mhairi and myself.”  
“What is it?” I asked.  
He chuckled. “If you don’t open it you wont find out will you!”  
Gingerly I picked it up. All I could feel was a long, rectangular shape of a box. Intrigued I unwrapped the silks to reveal an ornately carved wooden box, which I then opened. And gasped!  
Craig was grinning. “Do you like it?!  
I was almost lost for words! “Like it? It’s beautiful!” I managed to say. It was a walking cane, like no other cane I’d ever seen, but that was a bit like calling as Aston Martin ‘just another car’!  
“Well, take it out, then, see what it feels like!”  
I carefully lifted it out, admiring it as I did so. The entire cane was a swirl of red, gold and black with silver runes, some of which I recognised inlaid into it’s surface. I don’t know what it was made from, but it felt warm to my touch and seem to glow with an inner light. After caressing it for a few moments I stood, noticing that it was weighted towards the tip. It was the perfect fit. I took a few steps with it, then gave it a couple of experimental twirls, enjoying the feeling of it seeming to be a part of me rather than some sort of dead lump I needed for support. Craig watched me with evident pleasure. I sat down again, grinning from ear to ear!  
“You don’t have to say it, it’s pretty damn obvious you like it!” he said.  
“That’s an understatement to say the least!” I replied. “It’s perfect! I don’t know what else to say! Thank you.” Then I had a thought. “There’s more to this than just a gift, isn’t there?”  
He was still smiling. “Mhairi said you’d soon figure that out! Yes, there’s more too it. Consider it a helping hand!”  
I looked down at it again. “That’s what the runes are for! I recognise the ones for protection, safety and strength, but what does the other one do?”  
“I’m not surprised you didn’t recognise it, it was created specifically for this cane and you!”  
My mouth must have dropped open in shock because he continued “That surprised, you, didn’t it!” and I nodded. “It’s the cane’s security system, designed to prevent anyone stealing it. If they do, or take it off you and try to use it against you they will get quite a severe shock!”  
“Just how severe?”  
“Do you really want to know?” he asked.  
“Yes, I do. Knowing could come in handy, ‘though I don’t see how at the moment.”  
From the look on his face I knew I’d said the right thing. “Temporary paralysis to death, depending on the situation.” he said matter-of-factly, and I found myself not disturbed by this. I must be getting used to it., but I did have an idea.  
“What happens if I drop it and somebody picks it up to hand it to me, or in similar situations? That could be just a bit of a problem!”  
“No, we’ve thought about that.” he said. He pointed to the rune I didn’t recognise. “This is the security rune. Unlike the others this one doesn’t work until you physically activate it, so, for most of the time your cane will be safe to handle by anyone, but once activated… Just think of it, and in a suitable colour, and it’ll remain active for as long as you’ve asked it for, be it just a few seconds or minutes, even hours or longer, but I doubt you’ll ever need it on for that long. Once the time is over it switches itself off, or you can do that too.”  
I was impressed! “Sounds good to me.” I said. “I’m having trouble believing all this, it’s almost too much to take in. How can I ever thank you?”  
“By not getting your self killed!” he said dryly.  
That was the last think on my mind! “I’ll try my best. That’s one reason why I’m here after all!”  
“Quite!” he said, “Oh, and one final thing about your cane. All the metalwork is silver, for obvious reasons, but the tip is a tungsten silver alloy. It needed something hard-wearing and practical and it’s weighted with the same alloy. It may not kill like a blade but it will cause a lot of damage and make some-one take a step back, which...”  
“Which may just give me enough time to save my life.” I finished for him.  
“It’s reassuring to see were singing from the same hymn sheet! Now, get out of here, I’ve got work to do!”  
I put the cane back in it’s box and carefully wrapped it then Craig gave me a hand attaching it to my rucksack. No doubt people would wonder what I was carrying, well, let them wonder, they would see it soon enough, but first I wanted to get it back to my digs so I could activate the runes. Only then would I use it in public. They could wait until tomorrow!


End file.
